1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the control of at least one function of a plurality of functions of a mobile terminal located in a specific area, and, more particularly, to a mobile terminal with a Near Field Communication (NFC) function, which compulsorily controls the operation of one or more functions selected from among functions including a ring tone function, a camera function, a recording function, a scanning function, and a mobile communication function when the mobile terminal with an NFC function is located in a specific area.
2. Description of the Related Art
A mobile communication system includes mobile terminals and a mobile communication network. A mobile terminal is a device which is free to move within a service area formed by a mobile communication network and wirelessly connects to and communicates with a desired counter party whenever and wherever, includes a vehicle mobile terminal and a portable mobile terminal, and will be collectively referred to as a “mobile terminal” below.
Such a mobile terminal generally includes a variety of functions, such as a camera function of capturing still images and video images, a Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) Audio Layer-3 (MP3) player function of playing back music files, a recording function of recording and playing back audio signals, a scanning function of copying and recording documents, and an electronic book function of enabling recorded character information to be read, a memo function and data terminal function, in addition to a ring tone function of recognizing the termination and origination of communication and a communication function of wirelessly transmitting/receiving sound and data signals. A mobile terminal has developed into a smart phone (hereinafter regarded as being included in the “mobile terminal”) which includes a wireless Internet function, and it is expected that such a trend will continue.
In particular, with the rapid popularization of mobile terminals, almost all people possess a mobile terminal and NFC technology has been applied to such a mobile terminal, so that data can be wirelessly communicated using a small amount of electric power over a short distance.
A method of performing financial payments using such an NFC function like a credit card is referred to as a contactless-type application signal, and means which can process a contactless-type application signal is referred to as smart card means. Recently, it has been normal for mobile terminals to be provided with a smart card function.
There is a case in which such a mobile terminal which includes a variety of functions as described above is possessed and a termination ring tone signal which aurally represents the termination of communication is generated in a place, such as a conference room, a place for education, and a library, where quiet is requested, thereby causing unpleasantness to other people or disturbing the progress of a specific program.
It is necessary that a mobile terminal be operated in silent or etiquette mode in which an aural ring tone is not output in such a limited space (area or zone).
Further, there is a case in which important secret information is captured, recorded, or scanned without permission using the camera, recording and scanning functions of a mobile terminal and is divulged to the outside, or rapidly transmitted to a remote place using a communication function in a place (hereinafter referred to as a “security region”), such as a research laboratory, a development room and a factory, where new technology is researched, developed, and produced by spending a large amount of money.
In order to maintain security in such a security region, it is necessary that the selected specific function of a mobile terminal, such as a camera function, a recording function, a scanning function, a communication function or a termination ring tone function, be automatically controlled such that the corresponding function is not operated.
The related art includes Korean Patent Registration No. 10-0594271 (issued on Jun. 21, 2006) entitled “Mobile Communication Terminal Equipped with Camera and System and Method for Searching for Mobile Communication Terminal Including the same.”
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the functional configuration of an apparatus for controlling the function of a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the related art.
Referring to FIG. 1, the configuration includes a mobile communication terminal 100 and a searching system 10.
The mobile communication terminal 100 performs a mobile communication function in such a way as to wirelessly connect to another mobile terminal in the service area of a mobile communication base station, perform near field communication with a searching system in the service area of an NFC network, and includes a camera 110, a camera function processing module 120, a mobile communication function processing module 130, a camera presence information storage register 140, and an NFC function processing module 150.
The camera 110 captures and outputs an image signal in response to a corresponding control signal. The camera function processing module 120 generates a signal for controlling the capturing, and converts the captured image signal into a digital signal. The mobile communication function processing module 130 wirelessly connects to the mobile communication base station and communicates with the mobile communication base station. The camera presence information storage register 140 records presence information indicative of the presence of the built-in camera 110. The NFC function processing module 150 connects to the searching system 10 using an NFC method, and then transmits information about the presence of the camera 110.
The searching system 10 includes a searching device 200 for performing near field communication, and a display device 300. The searching device 200 connects to the mobile communication terminal 100 using an NFC method, checks whether the camera 110 is present or not, and includes memory 210, a control unit 220, and an NFC function processing module 230.
The memory 210 records a protocol used for communication performed using any one selected from among a Bluetooth method, an NFC method and a wireless Local Area Network (LAN) method. The control unit 220 outputs a control signal to be used to detect the presence of the camera 110, detects the presence of the camera, and then displays the presence of the camera as display data. The NFC function processing module 230 wirelessly communicates with the mobile communication terminal 100 over a short distance.
The display device 300 receives a signal obtained in such a way that the control unit 220 detects the presence of the camera 110 and outputs the presence of the camera 110 as display data, and displays the signal using an alarm lamp, a sound, or a text message.
In the configuration of the related art, the searching device 200 wirelessly connects to the mobile communication terminal 100 over a short distance using NFC and receives and analyzes the information about the presence of the camera, thereby determining whether the camera 110 is provided or not.
If the searching device 200 determines that the camera 110 is present in the mobile communication terminal 100, the searching device 200 generates an alarm signal in the display device 300 so that an operator can be aware of the alarm signal.
The operator who is aware of the alarm signal manually takes necessary measures against a user who possesses the mobile communication terminal 100 with the built-in camera 110.
When the mobile terminal includes a camera presence information storage register and does not provide information about the presence of the camera to the searching device, the related art has a problem in that the searching device cannot check whether the mobile terminal includes a camera function.
Meanwhile, the mobile terminal separately includes the register, and records and provides the information about the presence of a camera, so that the related art has problems in that the configuration thereof is complicated, the price thereof is high, and the manufacturing and production processes thereof are complicated.
Furthermore, even when measures are taken to prevent the camera function of the mobile terminal from being used in a security region, secret information may be recorded or transmitted and relayed to a remote place using another function, such as the recording function or the mobile communication function, so that the related art has a problem in that the leakage of information cannot be fundamentally and automatically prevented.
Moreover, the related art has a problem in that the operations of a camera function and some other function, such as a termination ring tone function, a communication function or a recording function, cannot be automatically controlled at the same time in the security region.
Therefore, it is necessary to develop technology for connecting to a mobile terminal in a security region using an NFC method, automatically controlling the activation and operation of a selected function, such as a termination ring tone function, a mobile communication function, a camera function or a recording function, enabling configuration to be simple and the price thereof to be low without providing a separate register, and enabling manufacturing and producing processes to be simple, thereby improving productivity.